Biodiversity

The Science Courtyard Living Lab includes seven species of native grasses and 27 species of flowering perennials. The project also explores pesticide-free soil preparation, demonstrating how sustainable landscape practices provide food and habitat for pollinators and support biodiversity on campus.

Plants found in this space include:

To learn more about the space’s design and construction, read the Landezine article. 

The BioGarden, located between the Buller Greenhouse and Biological Sciences, is a medicine plant and pollinator habitat curated by scientists and Indigenous scholars in the Faculty of Science, building from work begun in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, Human Resources, Student Wellness, and Spiritual Care in 2023. Initially, this space was launched as Gardening with Purpose, a program designed to foster community connection while encouraging interaction with the land and nature. The initiative invited members of the University of Manitoba community to help cultivate annual and perennial plants. In 2025, Drs Az Klymiuk and Carla Zelmer stepped in to manage curation and care of the garden, supported by members of Biological Sciences, Wawatay and the broader Faculty of Science. 

After touring the Buller Greenhouse as the initial seedling perennials were stratifying and germinating, Elder Norman Meade noted that the greenhouse contains plants from around the world, living together in harmony, and suggested that the BioGarden could evoke this ethos as well. To that end, some of the plants you will find here honour Indigenous peoples’ medicinal and cultural use traditions from around the world in peaceful coexistence.

The BioGarden functions as habitat for monarch butterflies, numerous species of bees and other insects, and small mammals; the garden is also a valuable teaching resource, including cultural teachings about medicinal plants. As a community resource accessible to all members of the UM community, the BioGarden supports biodiversity, wellness, and learning. We encourage you to take a moment out of your busy day, and linger here a little while.  And if this space speaks to you, please speak to us! Drop us a line at biogarden@groups.umanitoba.ca

The BioGarden is wholly supported by generous donations of tools, seeds, plants and volunteer time. We especially thank the Campus Beautification volunteers, Buller Greenhouse staff, Kelly Leask (Prairie Originals), Klymiuk Lab volunteers and many more.

The greenspace between the Russell Building and CAST received soil amendments to address compaction issues and is planted with a native tallgrass seed mixture. Following re-plating, the Faculty of Architecture included tulip bulbs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Landscape Architecture program. 

Species on site include: various species of wheatgrass, Canada wildrye, June grass, big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, side-oats grama, blue grama, buffalo grass and purple prairie clover 

A native grass and flower mixture was planted following construction of the Stanley Pauley Engineering building. 

Species on site include: variegated feather reed grass, tufted hair grass, purple cone flower, black eyed susan, blue oat grass, maiden grass, variegated moor grass, red switch grass and little bluestem  

The planter boxes contain a mixture of native prairie grasses and flowering wildflowers. Wildflower species include: giant hyssop, native swamp milkweed, white prairie clover, purple prairie clover, joe pye, false sunflower, bee balm, smooth aster, new england aster, culver’s root and golden alexander. 

Following roadway renewal projects, campus boulevards have been replanted with tallgrass species towards the centre of the boulevard, transitioning to salt tolerant short grass species adjacent to the roadway.

Native revegetation efforts along the riparian zone have been focused on maintaining a healthy riparian ecosystem, while using bioengineering strategies to help stabilize the riverbank following stabilization construction. Reforestation and native revegetation include the planting of hundreds of trees and shrubs, live willow cuttings, bio-bag and seeding of native grasses and shrubs.